Congested metropolises across North America have been grappling for years with how to design streets better for their myriad of users.

Some have gone on “road diets,” like Chicago, decreasing the number of traffic lanes in order to widen sidewalks and add bike lanes.

Portland, Oregon, has created curb extensions, while in New York and Montreal lanes have been narrowed also to make room for cyclists.

Now Toronto says it is looking to reduce the width of more arterial roads. Bureaucrats say the new city-wide guidelines are focused on getting motorists to slow down, but will also free up more space for other uses.

Officials in the transportation department have spent the last year developing and testing the guidelines, which are in keeping with the 10-foot lanes in urban areas recommended by the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

Although the details have not been released, Fiona Chapman, a pedestrian projects manager in the transportation department, said through lanes may become as narrow as three metres while curb lanes could be as wide as 4.3 metres. Expected use by trucks, buses, pedestrians and curves will influence the lanes’ width.

It’s not clear what the dimensions of most arterial lanes are now — city officials say they vary.

Toronto has already narrowed some streets, such as Harbord, which went from 3.3-metre lanes to three-metre ones to make room for a painted buffer around bike lanes.

Jarvis, Danforth, University and Bay also have lane widths that reflect the updated guidelines. More streets will be added when the city’s resurfacing program starts next year.

A “backgrounder” document said “research indicates that there is a direct relationship between travel speed and lane width,” but did not identify the research.

The idea is “overly generous” lane widths make drivers more comfortable with higher speeds, often above the speed limit, the document says, noting speed is often a factor in crashes. The higher the speed, the greater the risk of death, it said.

“It’s all about safety,” Ms. Chapman said, insisting the changes will not increase congestion.

“The width of a travel lane is independent of any concerns related to congestion,” she said. “Congestion is mostly about throughputs and you should continue to be able to have traffic moving smoothly.”

Mayor-elect John Tory did not oppose narrowing more lanes, so long as this does not make traffic worse.

“From where I come from, what people want is for traffic to move along, and move along more smoothly,” he said.

“This apparently will help with that and will, in addition, enhance safety. [A]s a result I’m not going to sort of put my voice against it, but I’ll be watching it like a hawk to ensure it doesn’t achieve the opposite.”

A recent report by New York’s transportation department found travel times for cars improved on streets where lanes had been narrowed to add bike lanes.

In Toronto, the extra space may be used for cyclists, to widen sidewalks, allow left-turn lanes or make room for medians.

Jared Kolb, executive director of Cycle Toronto, welcomed the new guidelines, saying they are ultimately about doing more with what the city’s got.

“This opens up the possibility to enhance bike lanes, widen them, or add new bike lanes, where that conversation wouldn’t have happened without that,” he said.

Just how many other North American cities have reduced their road widths is not entirely clear.

Steve Buckley, Toronto’s general manager of transportation services, told the Globe & Mail basically every city in the U.S. has 10-foot lanes in its downtown core.

But Jeff Speck, a Washington-based urban planner and author of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time said that’s a bit of an oversell.

“A lot of American cities are having a conversation about narrowing, but the fact is that most are already at 10 or 11 feet. Some are more progressive and moving to fix it, and others are not,” said Mr. Speck, a strong proponent of narrower lanes.

“It’s a dawning of understanding that narrower lanes are safer because cars are driving slower.”

Newly installed bike lanes on Richmond and Adelaide Streets will be getting separated barriers after all after much criticism directed at the city for breaking a promise to keep cyclists physically warded off while biking on these roads.

An email sent earlier this week by Toronto’s deputy city manager John Lively and general manager Stephen Buckley reassured those concerned over the lack of protection for bikers using the new cycle tracks, adding that flexi-posts will be installed by September.

Council directed city staff to build bike lanes “separated from adjacent traffic lanes by a painted buffer and flexi-posts.” But no physical barriers have been added along the Richmond-Adelaide cycle tracks, which opened in late July.

Daniel Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure, previously told the National Post “if we discover that there is no incursion without flexi-posts, then we may not need them.”

Cycling advocacy group Cycle Toronto slammed the city’s approach in an Aug. 6 press release, calling city staff’s reluctance to install the flexi-posts “dangerous, ineffective, and counter to council direction.”

Now, the city is saying it always planned to install flexi-posts in the form of bollards along the track, but that it was first simply looking to evaluate the effectiveness of the painted lane on its own as part of the city’s pilot project. It also said that not all flexi-posts needed for the project were in stock when it began in early July.

“In order to get an effectiveness measurement for the bollards, we need to know what happens without them as well as what happens after they go in,” said Mr. Egan, calling confusion in the past weeks a matter of a miscommunication.

“We may decide as part of this that the flexi-posts aren’t sufficient, that there are some locations that need more than that. I think the reality is that there will be some locations that are real trouble spots that need some kind of protection and there are some areas which there’s probably not a real strong need for it,” he said, adding it is unlikely that staff will recommend non-physically separated bike paths in the Richmond-Adelaide area.

The posts will be fully installed along Simcoe Street later this week to address perceived problem areas. Mr. Egan said according to the city’s data, there are certain “hotspots” along Simcoe where cars are entering the bike lanes, with 50% of obstructions happening within a single block.

Staff will also begin placing these bollards along Adelaide this week, according to the city’s email.

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/new-bike-lanes-will-be-getting-separated-barriers-after-much-criticism-directed-at-the-city/feed/1stdBikeLanes_LKP_006.JPGAfter waiting more than a decade, cyclists are taking to the new bike lanes in stylehttp://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/after-waiting-more-than-a-decade-cyclists-are-taking-to-the-new-bike-lanes-in-style
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After more than a decade of study, debate, lobbying, motions, protests, cyclist deaths and environmental assessments, this week crews created Toronto’s first east-end separated lanes to move bike traffic in and out of the financial district.

Biking to work on Wednesday, when I crossed Bathurst Street at Adelaide Street West I came upon a bike lane, painted for three blocks eastward.

Thursday I returned at 9 a.m. At St. Mary’s Catholic Church clustered 20 cyclists: helmeted citizens in shirts and ties, skirts and dress shoes, astride bikes by Trek and Giant and CCM and Linus, commuting to work. When the light changed we poured onto Adelaide. Half the cyclists took the new bike lane. The other half rode in the northernmost lane; perhaps they didn’t notice the new “cycle track.”

By Thursday crews, working at night, had extended the lane eight blocks to Widmer Street.

Cyclists have waited since at least 2001, when council approved a 1,000-kilometre “bikeway” network, for these lanes. They are arriving in style.

After years of condo construction Richmond and Adelaide are bumpy as logging roads. Crews have “shaved and paved” the right lane of each street for the bike lanes, giving cyclists a smoother ride than drivers.

The $390,000 project puts bike lanes on Adelaide from Bathurst to Simcoe Street and Richmond from Bathurst to York Street, and on Peter and Simcoe streets, on a trial basis. (The city plans lanes east to Sherbourne Street, but construction east of Yonge Street makes that unfeasible during the pilot.)

The lanes thrill cyclists. Drivers? Not so much.

“You have got to be kidding,” one motorist said during the environmental assessment. “The traffic is so clogged in the morning on Richmond and even worse on Adelaide in the evening. I can’t imagine how much worse things would be if you removed lanes of traffic for a small minority of cyclists.”

A 2011 city report warns, “implementing separated bicycle lanes in the Richmond-Adelaide corridor would require the removal of at least one curb lane which would have significant impacts on parking and loading activity and on traffic operations and capacity.”

Daniel Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure, said his staff have done travel time surveys, driving Richmond and Adelaide before the bike paths went in; they will drive the stretches again this fall to compare results. The city will also count cars and bikes, and report back to council in 2015.
“It could be anything from ‘Yeah, it’s great,’ to ‘take it out,’ ” he says.

The staff report promises lanes “separated from adjacent traffic lane by a painted buffer and flexi-posts.”

Laura Pedersen/National PostBicyclists use the newly painted bike lanes on eastbound Adelaide Street West between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Ontario on Thursday, July 24, 2014.

Mr. Egan said if cars stay out of the bike lanes, they may not need the flexi-posts.

Adam Hubbert, supervisor of signs and paving at Guild Electric, said his crews should complete the Adelaide bike lanes next Wednesday. The city has scheduled a ribbon-cutting for Aug. 1. Mr. Hubbert is waiting on “no stopping” signs featuring a $150 fine and a silhouette of a judge’s gavel, which should arrive this week, he said. Once they complete Adelaide, crews will paint Richmond.

Mr. Hubbert, who lives in Peterborough, applauds the bike lanes.

“If I lived downtown, I wouldn’t even own a car,” he says. “The traffic is too crazy. I’d bike everywhere.”

A postcard-perfect May Monday morning in Toronto began with a major feel-good photo op: Bike to Work Day. With three elections taking place simultaneously, Nathan Phillips Square filled with (mostly) fair-weather cyclists seeking election or re-election.

Mayoral candidates Olivia Chow and David Soknacki joined the aforementioned Ms. Stintz at the event. (Soknacki came by car; his campaign said he is a committed cyclist who rode from his home in Scarborough to his business in Markham for six months last year).

Conspicuous in his absence was John Tory, another candidate for mayor, who has been unable to give any straight answers on cycling matters so far in this election. (A reporter asked him recently whether he supports bike lanes on Richmond and Adelaide Streets, yes or no; his 100 word response did not answer the question).

Matthew Sherwood for National PostCouncillor Denzil Minnan-Wong rides the new separated bike lanes on Sherbourne Street between Carlton Street and Gerrard Street East in Toronto on September 25, 2012.

Amanda Galbraith, a spokeswoman for Mr. Tory, said the candidate was busy Monday preparing for his major transit platform announcement at the Canadian Club on Tuesday. “To suggest he is anti-bike is ridiculous,” she said.

Ms. Fletcher, who slipped on the ice and fractured her pelvis in March, went first Monday to the physiotherapist to see if she was okay to ride in. The physio said yes, so Ms. Fletcher, astride her purple Miele mountain bike (its handlebars decorated with a purple lei from the Pride parade last year) rode down Gerrard to Queen Street, and then east on Queen.

“I am back in action,” says Ms. Fletcher. Construction on Queen posed a challenge to her ride. “All the ramps being cut up for the new streetcars are murder for cyclists.”

Ms. Davis last year bought a grey 24-speed Raleigh at Cyclepath, explaining, “my old bike died.” She dismissed Ms. Fletcher’s Miele as an “old lady’s bike.”

Ms. Davis rode east on Danforth/Bloor to get in to city hall. She favours a bike lane on the route.

Matthew Sherwood for National PostCyclists commute eastbound on College Street near University Avenue on one of a growing number of designated bike lanes.

“I was going so fast trying to avoid things that I missed Yonge,” she says. (The mass ride converged at Yonge and rode down to city hall). I came down Bay. My ride was great, the weather was fabulous, the potholes were treacherous.

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“When it comes to the budget I am usually looking for investments in recreation and social services. But I am now a member of the Works committee. Riding a bike demonstrates concretely the need to improve the roads. When you are in a car, surrounded by steel, you feel the potholes, but on you are on a bike you are at risk.”

The sheer quantity of cyclists on Toronto’s roads these days is quite dramatic. Riding in on the College Street bike path Monday, I saw more cyclists than ever before: we rode two abreast at University Avenue. Bikes far outnumbered cars.

In the square, Jared Kolb, head of Cycle Toronto, handed us a flyer: his group wants a minimum grid of 100 kilometres of protected bike lanes on main streets by 2018. I asked him how many kilometres we have now. He smiled.

“Just two. On Sherbourne.”

But hope springs eternal, and with politicians on bikes packing the square on a lovely morning, and Cycle Toronto handing out 1,000 free Bike Month t-shirts, plus pancakes all around, who wouldn’t feel a little optimistic?

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/torontos-politicians-rally-for-better-bike-infrastructure-but-john-tory-a-curious-no-show/feed/3stdCouncillors Paula Fletcher and Janet Davis rode into city hall for the kickoff of Bike MonthMatthew Sherwood for National PostMatthew Sherwood for National PostToronto’s newest separated bike lanes on Richmond, Adelaide could become a reality — at least temporarilyhttp://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/torontos-newest-separated-bike-lanes-on-richmond-adelaide-could-become-a-reality-at-least-temporarily
http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/torontos-newest-separated-bike-lanes-on-richmond-adelaide-could-become-a-reality-at-least-temporarily#commentsThu, 08 May 2014 00:36:39 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=463359

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/torontos-newest-separated-bike-lanes-on-richmond-adelaide-could-become-a-reality-at-least-temporarily/feed/1stdA handout illustration of Richmond Street at Duncan as it would look with a separate lane for bicyclesIn Toronto, Bixi has its riders — but they are hard to find in the freezing coldhttp://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/in-toronto-bixi-has-its-riders-but-they-are-hard-to-find-in-the-freezing-cold
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On Monday Bixi, the Montreal-based bike sharing network, filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

On Tuesday, Lorne Persiko, president of the Toronto Parking Authority, said the bankruptcy will not affect the bike-share service in Toronto.

“We are being told there is no impact,” said Mr. Persiko, “just a typical bankruptcy protection and it’s business as usual.”

Still, the question arises: who the heck would ride a Bixi bike in weather like this, anyway? Montreal stores its 5,000 Bixi bikes when the snow flies, and gets them back out in spring. Since our winter is milder, Toronto leaves its 80 docking stations, stocked with 1,000 bikes, year-round. On Tuesday I went out at noon to gauge the popularity of Bixi at -20C.

At the Bixi stand near the busy Toronto Coach Terminal, I see plenty of bikes, but no customers. I walk over to the stand by the World’s Biggest Bookstore. No riders, so I decide to try the service myself.

The Bixi touch screen only works with bare fingers, so I remove my gloves and slide in my credit card. May they take a $250 deposit on my credit card? Quick, “Accept”! Do I want to scroll through all 56 pages of terms of rental? Nope! “Accept.” A ticket with my rental code drops into a little slot behind a plastic flap, similar to parking meters. I struggle, but I can’t fish it out. My fingers are freezing. Finally I lick my finger and fiddle the ticket out of the slot. I punch a code and get a bike.

By this point I have to remove my digits from the fingers of my gloves, ball my hands up and ride without actually gripping the handlebars, to avoid frostbite. As I ride west, I hear a high-pitched squeal, like the alarm that sounds when you open an emergency exit. This bike doesn’t like the cold either, and whines while I pedal, all the way to Bloor Street and Avenue Road.

In total, I visit seven Bixi stations, including two on Spadina Avenue, and never see another Bixi customer. Still, it seems someone is renting Bixis.

Toronto this week has 4,291 Bixi members, most of whom paid $95 for a year. Riders in Toronto have used Bixi bikes for 9,198 trips since New Year’s Day.

Dan Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure in Transportation Services at the city, said some people hesitated in 2013 to renew their memberships because of uncertainly with Bixi.

But now stability is returning. Mr. Persiko said the parent of Bixi has transferred the bicycles, docking stations and other assets in Toronto to the TPA, which owns Toronto’s Green P parking garages. Alta Bicycle Share of Portland, Ore., will take over operating Bixi in Toronto.

“We are finalizing the agreement. The negotiations are going well,” he said. Mr. Persiko asked anybody who would like to buy the naming rights for our locally owned bike-share system to give him a telephone call.

“We are in good shape,” sums up Mr. Egan. “We’ve gone through the hard stuff.”

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E-scooters, meanwhile, would be permitted on painted bike lanes on roads. They would still not be allowed on bike paths or “multi-use trails shared by pedestrians and cyclists,” since it is more difficult for them to overtake a slower bicycle on those paths due to the narrowness of those paths.

“Overall the report is a reasonable compromise. I think e-bikes, electric bicycles … are here to say, and they’re an important part of Toronto’s transportation mix,” said Jared Kolb, the executive director of Cycle Toronto.

Neither type of e-bike requires a licence or registration, but by law they can’t go above 32 km/h. Pedelecs still require pedalling like a normal bicycle, but a battery-powered motor gives a power boost. E-scooters are completely powered by a motor without any pedalling required, like a normal scooter.

Daniel Bresca for National PostPedelecs still require pedalling like a normal bicycle, but a battery-powered motor gives a power boost

Mr. Kolb called the report’s distinction between e-scooters and pedelecs “fantastic,” saying pedelecs made bicycling accessible to a lot of people.

“Older adults, folks with mobility issues, I’m imagining myself at 60 with maybe a bad knee…. A pedelec bicycle enables people to continue riding, continue to be able to stay on their bicycle for longer,” he said.

The speed difference remains an issue. E-bikes can travel up to 32 km/h, while the average cyclist moves at a speed of 20-22 km/h. Mr. Kolb said that another proposal city staff are looking at is adding speed limits to bike lanes.

“For instance, maybe 25 km/h so that electric scooters, cyclists, they max out at the 25 level to reduce that speed differential,” he said. The city report notes that the European pedelec speed limit is 25 km/h.

The city report has proposed a monitoring period of two years, during which staff will evaluate how the new rules are working and then report back with any changes that need to be made.

Other municipalities, such as Ottawa and Mississauga, have the same rules that the report is proposing.

Mr. Kolb said that the new rules would attract more people to pedelecs, and that’s “ultimately a good thing.”

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/city-report-recommends-toronto-allow-e-bikes-in-bike-lanes/feed/1stdE-scooters would be permitted on painted bike lanes on roads. They would still not be allowed on bike paths or 'multi-use trails shared by pedestrians and cyclists'Daniel Bresca for National Post‘We’ve divided this community': Vancouver council sides with cyclists over motorists in battle over bike lanehttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/weve-divided-this-community-vancouver-council-sides-with-cyclists-over-motorists-in-battle-over-bike-lane
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VANCOUVER — A bitter months-long battle over a Kitsilano bike lane proposal that pitted motorists against cyclists — and neighbour against neighbour — has ended.

Vancouver city council gave the green light Monday night for the $6-million Seaside Greenway and York Bikeway project, which includes a controversial plan to close one kilometre of Point Grey Road west of Macdonald to commuter traffic, diverting 10,000 cars to other roads in the area.

“This route is going to become a jewel. People will adapt to it and we will be glad we did it,” said Coun. Heather Deal.

Arlen Redekop / Postmedia NetworkThe final and missing link in a 28-kilometre cycling network in Vancouver is a seaside section of Point Grey Road that city councillor Heather Deal says will "become a jewel."

The plan includes the creation of separated bike lanes and widened sidewalks, but would also limit commuter traffic on Point Grey Road, home to some of Vancouver’s ritziest homes.

The most contentious section of the plan — the Point Grey diversion — garnered a 7-2 vote in favour from councillors, largely along party lines.

Mayor Gregor Robertson, who had just purchased a house near the proposed bike route, recused himself from voting to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

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The plan fills the final, missing gap in a 28-kilometre cycling route stretching from the Burrard Street Bridge to Jericho Beach. But it is also one of the most divisive issues to come before city council in recent memory.

“We’ve divided this community,” said Coun. George Affleck, who put forward a failed motion to defer the plan to October. “There are a lot of people in the city angry about this.”

At the heart of the issue, said Deal, was whether people thought Point Grey Road was safe. Deal said she is convinced the narrow road is unsafe.

There was no consensus among speakers Monday night. Some say the seaside artery is safe, citing statistics that said there were no accidents between cyclists and motorists on Point Grey Road between 2008 and 2012, while others say they witness potentially deadly accidents on the road regularly.

Why are you going from something working OK to something completely unknown, a complete shutdown?

Deal points out that the plan merely shifts the end of commuter access on Point Grey Road east by one kilometre. “That’s it. For that difference, you get an amazing continuation of our seaside route.”

In total, 217 people registered to speak on the issue over five nights of debate. Monday drew a noticeably smaller crowd than on previous nights. The majority spoke out against the plan, calling it defective and costly, affecting many — but benefiting only a few.

Markus Von Berg said the plan provided a “modest gain” for cyclists but a major inconvenience for motorists, residents and businesses along the streets that will bear the extra load of diverted traffic.

“Why are you going from something working OK to something completely unknown, a complete shutdown?” he asked councillors. He suggested the city look at other traffic-calming measures for the street, such as pedestrian-controlled intersections, and use the money saved to fund the recently approved bike-share program.

I think it’s a great thing for Vancouver to have this as a selling point

Another speaker, James Sullivan, was gung-ho about the project.

“I think it’s a great thing for Vancouver to have this as a selling point,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world as people are saying.”

City engineers will start work on the Kitsilano project in early fall.

Despite its near-rabid commitment to bike lanes, this week Vancouver became the last of Canada’s three most populous cities to inaugurate a municipal bike-share system. Throughout, proponents have laid the blame for this laggard-status squarely on B.C.’s 17-year-old helmet law. Unlike in Toronto or Montreal, any lidless Vancouverite caught atop two wheels faces a $100 fine. But now, with city hall having given the go-ahead for shared bike stations to hit Vancouver streets by 2014, the city has a convenient workaround: Helmet vending machines. The Post‘s Tristin Hopper asks the relevant questions.

QReally? A machine that dispenses helmets?

http://www.helmet-hub.com/The HelmetHub machine, completed and revealed at MIT, is capable of stocking and collecting up to 36 helmets at a time.

A Yes, and it’s not even Vancouver’s idea. In 2011, the geniuses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed the HelmetHub, a refrigerator-sized machine that cranks out 36 helmets. The year before, the city of Melbourne, Australia, introduced helmet vending machines for its bike-sharers. Even Canadian companies have entered the helmet-vending game. Two years ago, the City of Vancouver contracted a local company, SandVault Group Global Solutions Corp., to build a prototype in only 41 days. But now that Vancouver has signed with Alta Bicycle Share, the company that built the Melbourne system, the SandVault machine remains hidden from public view. “It’s an eight-foot tall ornament in my warehouse,” said SandVault president Rick Murray.

QSo, Melbourne already has this system. How did that go?

A Not so well. Even with heavily subsidized helmet-dispensers, “the bike scheme has been crippled by Melbourne’s compulsory helmet laws,” wrote the Melbourne daily newspaper The Age. One problem was that the city only had two helmet vending machines, and everybody else had to pick theirs up at a local 7-Eleven. Now, as a stop-gap solution, the city’s bike-share operators have simply begun handing out free helmets and asking users to attach them to the bikes when they were done. Last month, Alta Bicycle Share CEO Michael Jones told a Vancouver Metro reporter that they intended to learn from their mistake in Vancouver. “It’s going to be a seamless rental process … you can rent the bike and the helmet at the same time,” he said.

A Steam cleaning. While Melbournites still need to take their chances, Alta Bicycle Share has assured Vancouver’s dreadlocked public that each helmet will be thoroughly cleaned before it is put back into circulation.

QHow many helmets per machine? Is it enough?

Les Bazso/Postmedia News fileDespite its near-rabid commitment to bike lanes, this week Vancouver became the last of Canada’s three most populous cities to inaugurate a municipal bike-share system.

A Each machine will hold about 30 helmets. And there will be 125 machines. So that’s 3,750 helmets right there. In Montreal, however, the city’s busiest bike-share stations saw an average of 300 users per day, so without vigilant restocking, Vancouverites may well get used to the sight of empty helmet machines.

QIf a bicycle helmet is involved in an impact, the foam compresses and it’s basically useless. How do we know these machines won’t simply be dispensing useless helmets?

A Alta Bicycle Share maintains that the helmets will be safety-inspected at the same time as they’re being cleaned. But of course, the trick with both motorcycle and bicycle helmets is that it’s hard to tell whether they have been in an impact. Bicycle helmets are also useless if they are not tightened and secured effectively, which, as any bike rider knows, is a horrifyingly frustrating experience at the best of times.

QSo, the system is new, untested and may be inherently unable to cope with demand. What happens if this fails?

A Doom, or utter lawlessness. No city has ever successfully paired helmet laws with bike share programs. So, if this helmet-distribution system doesn’t take, it could spell doom for Vancouver’s long-awaited foray into shared bikes. Or, maybe the Vancouver Police will just begin to treat helmetless bike-sharers the same way they treat pot-smoking tourists or open-air heroin users; with a kindly look in the other direction. In either case, it’s worth noting B.C. is short of organ donors.

Summer sun is precious, and there are few better ways to enjoy it than from the vantage of a bicycle. Whether you have a weekend afternoon or a week o≠ from work, there are countless ways to explore on a bike. You can discover your city, the surrounding countryside or hop on a plane to experience one of Canada’s many bike-friendly trails. Here, we lay out three different types of bicycle trips — a long one, short one and a multi-day journey — and what it’ll take to do each.

LOCALTime budget 3-5 hoursThe bike Whatever’s availableBring Water, sunscreen, bicycle map, Allen key, bike lock, money for pit stopsBefore you go Check over your bike for any loose parts. Do some light stretches to limber up your back, shoulders and legs.Tips Explore back roads and alleys, discover shortcuts, get lost. Remember, this isn’t a commute. Don’t take the tired old routes you use all the time.

Trips Here’s an idea — take a cue from Toronto’s Cupcake Ride and create a themed mission for your ride. Cupcake riders cruise from bakery to bakery to sample the offerings at each one. Substitute baked goods with poutine, sushi, shawarma, ice cream. You’ll build an appetite with all that biking, and sharing among friends can keep the portions under control (if that’s what you’re into).

Of course, it doesn’t have to be about food. Try a tour of art galleries, shoe stores or city parks. Grab your camera or smartphone and go on a photo safari. Design a scavenger hunt — the best pedestrian portrait, the best mid-pedal capture, the best typo in a sign. Play a two-wheeled game of I Spy with your kids on traffic-free trails.

Another approach is to simply bring your bike to the end of the bus or subway line, and ride back. In Toronto, take the Don or Humber Valley trails up one side of the city and down the other. Vancouver’s Stanley Park offers a beautiful seaside view, with trails that connect you to the rest of the city. In Montreal, a path hugs Lachine canal on both sides, so you can easily gauge how long the return trip will be.

DAY TRIPTime budget 5-10 hoursThe bike Something in decent condition (no crunchy sounds).Bring Water, sunscreen, mapbook, snacks such as energy bars and bananas, and a bag to store it all in (pannier, handlebar bag, backpack). Also bring a bike pump, lights, spare tube, bike lock, Allen key and wrench (and know how to use them).Before you go Ensure your bike will withstand the trip — if in doubt, stop in a local bike shop for a once-over. Stretch for at least a half hour to warm up your muscles.

Tips
• Map out the route and identify potential pit-stop opportunities. You don’t even have to start at home: Drive or take transit past the undesirable bits toward more scenic routes. For reference, 30 km takes about 1.5 to 2 hours of riding, depending on your need for speed.
• Don’t forget to include the return trip in your planning. You may want to bike back, or simply jump on a train or bus — check the local transit for rules about bringing bicycles on board. Have a backup plan in case of injury or bike malfunction along the way, or prearrange an emergency pick-up from a friend that owes you a favour.

Trips
Remember to occasionally measure your progress on the map — do you have to reassess your route or arrival time? Minimize your interactions with traffic by taking one of Canada’s many trailways. They can take days or weeks to traverse, but you can carve out small portions in day or hours-long stretches based on your skill.

For example, Ontario’s 780-km Waterfront Trial is beginner friendly (read: no hills) and you can start anywhere from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Cornwall. You can take VIA’s new bike train to Ontario’s wine region, which makes it easy to hop on and off with your ride. Wine lovers will also enjoy bike trekking through the Okanagan in B.C. In Alberta, start at Edworthy Park and cycle along the Bow River Pathway to downtown Calgary. P.E.I.’s Confederation Trail runs all the way from one end of that province to the other, providing many day trip opportunities along the way, as well as longer tours.

Tips
• Know what you’re getting into. Remember: the shortest distance between two points isn’t always bikeable. If it’s your first long trip, it can be easy to overestimate how far you can travel each day. It can also be tricky to gauge how difficult a route is from a map, so refer to elevation maps to identify hilly areas that can be avoided.
• Want someone else to handle the fine print? Touring companies offer trips with varying degrees of difficulty and provide a lot of support to riders, with food, accommodation and pit stops mapped out.
• If you’d prefer to explore with your own pack, start with bike forums and blogs and local BIAs. The cycling community is your best source of how difficult, scenic or hair-brained your route may be.
• Be open to opportunities. As anywhere, conversations with locals are the ideal way to turn up unexpected gems. People are fascinated by bike tourists, and will want to chat you up. You may get a spontaneous tour or a tip for a good lookout or local pub. Remember: you’re not in a hurry.
• Don’t make reservations. It can be difficult to gauge how far you’ll go in a day: terrain, tiredness and the midday discovery of a great winery can all play a factor. It’s best to aim for a town, and in the middle of the day figure out where you’ll end up. Call ahead if possible.

Trips
The TransCanada trail starts at the Pacific Ocean, stretching 7,500 km across the country to St. John’s, stopping in all 10 provinces along the way. Not able to take two months off work to tackle it? Try a smaller portion of it. For instance, in Newfoundland a tour along the Avalon Peninsula promises some tough terrain, 16th century villages and a taste of the Atlantic Ocean. You can start with St. John’s and travel along coastal roads — keep your eyes peeled for whales, icebergs and two of North America’s largest seabird colonies. While meandering, it’s important to mind your map. Some small towns can be really far apart, and taking the wrong road can add a lot of distance between you and a place to sleep.

If it’s delicious local cheese you’re after, the 5,000-kilometre Route Verte crosses through every region of Quebec. It could take weeks to traverse the entire thing, which gives you plenty of options. Pick a launch point and plot a trip from there (the VIA train allows bikes on some trips). For example, Trois Rivieres is a cozy small town and great place to start a trip toward Rimouski along the St. Lawrence River. Or start at Carleton, and travel inland along the Baie des Chaleurs toward Percé Rock, the highlight of the Gaspé region. Connect the dots between towns by bike or on the train.

In central southern British Columbia, check out the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, a beautiful old railway with mountain and valley scenery that has been converted for cyclists and hikers.

You’ve got to admit that two-wheeled electric-powered personal transport is immensely practical and great fun. It is also, however, an increasing source of inter-vehicular conflict, an expansion of the existing multi-faceted war among the tribes of urban transport. The existing battles are already fierce among the dominant automobile, the engine-revving motorcycle, the anarchic pedal bicycle and the far more numerous but vulnerable pedestrian. Now comes a powerful but erratic insurgent: e-scooters.

They climb curbs, are driven along sidewalks, barrel along bike lanes and cruise mid-road down city streets at 30 kilometers an hour. They are silent-engine intruders that are upsetting the general cease-fire conditions that currently prevail in Great Toronto Auto Bike and Pedestrian War of 2012.

The trouble with the e-scooter is that there is no place for it, no territory where it can legitimately settle and call home. Under existing Ontario regulation, it is not a motorcycle, and therefore does not require any insurance or a licence to operate, so long as its total engine power does not exceed 500 watts and top speed is limited to 32 kilometres an hour.

But an e-scooter is also not a bicycle, despite the claims of electric vehicle marketers and the provisions of existing government regulations. E-scooters cannot be pedaled, in any practical sense, and can only propel forward using power from an electric motor. They clearly do not belong on any bike lane, certainly not the new, narrow blocked-off-by-concrete-barrier lanes that are to be installed around Toronto.

Do e-scooter drivers, with no licence requirement, know how to drive? Recently, while driving my car along Wellesley St., I followed an e-scooter riding mid-traffic between my car and the one in front. When the car in front of the e-scooter slowed, the e-scooter quickly zapped over into the bike lane and began passing the car on the right. Then, when the e-scooter ran up against a bicycle in the bike lane, the driver started beeping his horn aggressively, as if the bicycle should pull over to make way for the mighty e-scooter coming through.

Not all e-scooter drivers are aggressive jerks who jump curbs and park their bulky un-plated pieces of equipment on sidewalks and in doorways as if they were bicycles. As our illustration demonstrates, e-scooterland is a wide world of practicality and enjoyment for young and old. There’s something genuinely satisfying in cruising along at a decent clip with no effort and essentially non-existent noise from the e-scooter’s battery-powered electric motor.

But it’s not a bicycle.

Look at your typical e-scooter. It is, by any objective assessment, the equivalent of a gasoline-powered scooter; in profile, it is all but identical to the legendary Vespa. Some are bigger than others, and most can accommodate two people. But all seem to come with power sources that have strong acceleration and the ability to scoot along at 30 kilometres an hour, a normal clip in most Toronto traffic. One of the brands on the market, Motorino, describes its engine as a “500W 48V oversized high torque CCT brushless regenerative motor.” It also comes with a 12V cigarette lighter plug, for those who like to light up a smoke while driving.

An e-scooter is not a bicycle, whether manual or motorized. A genuine e-bike looks like a bicycle and has a fully operating pedal system and a gear structure that allows the rider to pedal without the assist of the electric motor. The e-bike driver can pedal while the motor is running, using the motor as an assist, especially on acceleration. When an e-bike slows down and the motor is turned off, the driver can continue using pedal power without any loss of balance or momentum—and without risk to other bicyclists.

The e-bike is a bicycle, the e-scooter is — it must be said — a motorcycle. As such, it seems to me, e-scooters should be subject to licence and road regulations that are similar to those governing motorcycles. Maybe the rules should be a little different to accommodate the lower speed capacity, but they should not continue to be given the same free reign that bicycles now enjoy.

Unless, of course, the new model for personal urban transport is libertarian anarchy. Personally, I have no problem with that, so long as everybody understands what that means. My e-bike can go anywhere!